


Secrets of Whitefern

by xTheCharmBomb



Category: My Sweet Audrina - V. C. Andrews
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-03-19 22:06:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18979273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xTheCharmBomb/pseuds/xTheCharmBomb
Summary: With Arden Lowe's death more secrets haunt the stale wedding cake house, and Audrina Adare Lowe. When the past literally comes back to haunt her how will she cope? Will all the secrets of Whitefern finally be exposed to the world, as though Vera Whitefern had finally got her revenge?





	Secrets of Whitefern

Secrets of Whitefern 

By: The Charm Bomb

 

A/N: This is my first fan fic for the series "My Sweet Audrina". Just something rolling around in my mind and some of it may not make sense, but it is an AU so work with it?

Any and all comments are appreciated, and will keep me going. 

 

Secrets of Whitefern

 

 

Twilight Dusk

 

It had been a few months since Arden’s death. Sylvia and I had adjusted rather well, it was almost as if Arden had never left. He was just...gone. I somewhat hoped he was lying in rest with his mother Billie Low Adare who had died after a mysterious falling down the stairs here at Whitefern. How odd that Arden suffered the same fate as his mother. With the new baby being born and everyone in Whitefern Village thinking she was mine and Arden’s daughter, sympathy came with fresh flowers and homemade meals. People who had never paid attention to me before suddenly grasped my hand with kindness. Their eyes filled with tears, they hoovered over little Adele who would never know her father. And in a way she’d never know that Sylvia was her mother, not her sister. Right now it was safer to keep the lie.

 

We sat out on the front porch of the stale wedding cake house of my youth and adulthood. I suppose one day I would be like Papa, and die in my bed. Whitefern’s gray mists would take me from life into death where I would meet up with those who had passed. Surely Momma would be there to greet me with open arms even if Aunt Ellsbeth would be glaring at me for causing the death of her daughter, Vera. Vera I had no doubt wouldn’t be in Heaven with us. Papa would make sure of that. I wondered where she would be, and where Arden Lowe my childhood love would be. Perhaps the two of them were keeping each other company.

 

“Look!” Sylvia exclaimed, pulling me out of my twilight dusk thoughts. Aunt Ellsbeth always called those dark thoughts that as she had taken to sitting on a rocking chair—not The First Audrina’s—out on the porch when the sun went down. Occasionally when she would let me I would join her, and that’s what she would tell me. Poor Aunt Ellsbeth who always wanted to show me more affection but couldn’t. I was dragged out of these thoughts as Sylvia rose. I thought she was going to show me something cute Adele had done.

 

Sylvia loved her daughter, even if she called her a sister as I had repeatedly taught her. My poor, beautiful sister had been born prematurely due to my mother’s closeted drinking. She’d been though to be severally disabled and kept in a facility to control her functions until she was two. As a young woman I had begged Papa to bring her home, believing Sylvia would fill a hole in my heart. I had since become her mother, her best friend and extension to the outside world.

 

And Sylvia really did more of the care for Adele than I did. Part of me felt uncomfortable around the daughter of my husband, when she wasn’t mine. I tried to bond with her and I feel as an aunt, I do but as a mother? That remains to be seen. I look to where Sylvia pointed. The gates of Whitefern swing open and a luxurious car pulls in.

 

We both watched as a new model Cadillac Escalade pulled up. It was a sparkling white. It honked and a young woman got out. She stepped out with her feet first, wearing dark green old fashioned high heels. She wore dark pantyhose and the smart green skirt she wore was also old fashioned, reminding me of something out of the fifties. Something my mother would wear. Her top blazer had gold buttons that were buttoned halfway up to reveal a white silk tank top. And it was her hair that caused me to drop the Bible I’d been holding. Apricot hair that glinted in the sun, combined with milk pale skin that easily burned. The face was hidden behind large sunglasses and a hat that matched. This young woman stood firmly and walked towards us. She held a Chanel purse made of green leather tooled in gold. I watched as she stood and stared at Whitefern then looked over. “Audrina Lowe? Mrs. Lowe?” She shouted in excitement.

 

I rose as did Sylvia who held Adele closer to her. I walked to the front steps. “Yes, I am Mrs. Lowe.” I said.

 

I saw the mouth of this young woman smile who oddly reminded me of Arden smile. “Oh, Mrs. Lowe! I am so thrilled to finally meet you.” She stopped and studied Sylvia taking in the baby in her arms. “And this must be Sylvia. Such a wonderful, old fashioned name.”

 

I frowned. “Yes, this is my sister. And my daughter, Adele.”

 

The woman paused. She glanced at Sylvia and then the baby. “A—a daughter? Who is her father?” Her voice comes out soft.

 

“My husband and I were blessed to have her. Sylvia is her aunt and adores her little niece. Don’t you Sylvia?” I asked.

 

Sylvia nodded and held Adele up. “Pretty baby!” She smiled and kissed her daughter’s face. Adele laughed and her pudgy little fingers reach out to touch her mother’s cheek.

 

“Well. What a cute little family.” The woman said. She stepped back once more to admire the house. “It’s everything I always imagined.” Her voice came out a whisper.

 

“I’m sorry.” I said. “But who are you?”

 

She pulled off the shades she wore and dropped them into her purse. “Allow me to introduce myself, Mrs. Lowe.” I glanced at her eyes, those beautiful gold color amber eyes that my husband had and knew already what she was going to say. And I swear standing there I could hear once more the wind chimes tingling, hear the cruel laughter of those boys and the ghostly trill of my half sister/cousin’s voice: “ _Aud-rin-aaaa._.”

 

“I know this must come as quite a shock, Mrs. Lowe. But I would like to formally introduce myself. I was adopted at birth and my parents gave me the name of Ashley Miller.” She paused. “But I was given a name by my birth mother who was too young to take care of me. She named me apparently after her aunt. Lucietta Lana Whitefern Adare. I would like to go by my birth name. I would like to be called Lucky Whitefern.”

 

And I can hear Vera laughing from her grave. I swallowed thickly. “I’m afraid—I don’t—understand.” I whispered.

 

“It’s a lot to take in. Perhaps, I know I am imposing here but we can have some tea, or a bit of brandy to calm down? I will tell it all to you. But long story short...your late husband is my father.”

 

Thunder seemed to crash all around me. I recalled Arden mentioning how he was a bit wild in his college years, how he was so knowing about sex. Was this an offspring of his? Coming to collect on his death?

 

I had not been paying attention to this young woman’s words. “Who, who is your mother?”

 

She smiled then and it was such a chilling smile, one straight from my nightmares. “Why. I’m shocked you didn’t know.” She gave a stance and if she had limped at all she would have been Vera all over again except for her amber eyes. I feel death’s fingers lace up my body.

 

“My mother was Vera Whitefern.”

 

***

Inside the modernized kitchen of my childhood home I made Sylvia put Adele up. She helped me wheel out the silver cart with the teapot set. She sat about making the jasmine tea and had some biscuits premade from a recipe I taught her. She handed Ashley Mills her cup. I watched her thank Sylvia profoundly and she took a seat. I did after I helped Sylvia and poured myself some tea. With a small stick I swirled it around. “You’re Arden’s daughter?” How could this be possible? How could Arden and Vera have had a child? It didn’t make sense.

 

“Yes.” She stretched those long legs out, crossing them at the ankles. She picked her cup up and took a sip. Every movement she made screamed Vera and her amber eyes twinkled like my husband’s when he was happy. She looked like a sleek and satisfied cat ready to pounce. “I was told this when I was sixteen years old. You see, I looked for Arden Lowe myself. We used to meet occasionally for lunch. He began to buy me things as well. Birthday presents, school outfits. Sometimes he even took me on weekend trips where he’d talk about my mother—and you, Mrs. Lowe.”

 

This set me reeling. I recalled some times when Arden would take off for business meetings, being gone for a week at a time to weekends. Whenever I asked him about it he would reply with “Sometimes I have to make our clients feel like we care about them, Audrina. And if I get invited to family gatherings then doesn’t that mean I’m doing my job?”

 

I took a quick sip of my tea to calm my jarring nerves. “But Vera only got pregnant when she was fourteen. She was having an affair with my music teacher, Lamar Rensdale--”

 

“It was a lie, Mrs. Lowe. Arden explained it all to me when I was old enough to understand. He’d mentioned that the two of you were becoming closer and closer and while you weren’t ready for the kind of relationship he wanted with a woman, my mother was there. She was waiting for her chance, wanting to love him and be loved by him.” Ashley took one of Sylvia’s cookies and dunked it in her tea.

 

That sounded just like Arden, I thought. I sat back. “So then explain it to _me_.” I snapped. Sylvia glanced upwards at my sudden angry tone, her beautiful features masking my own.

 

“You see it wasn’t Lamar Rensdale’s baby she was carrying. My mother—Vera--used him as a way to escape a place she hated. It was a simple lie that took and held. She had a baby with Arden. That baby was me.”

 

But I recalled the day of the miscarriage. My eyes must have shown my disbelief at her story. “No. I came in upon Vera having a miscarriage. She took a clump of her own blood and threw it at her mother. She said that the baby was Mr. Rensdale’s--”

 

Ashley held up a hand. “Let me finish. You see, Vera had her child by then. When her mother found out she was furious and so was your father who arranged for the adoption of myself. A few months later a reckless Vera, probably hurting and needing comfort turned to Lamar. That miscarriage was his. I am not that child. Look at me. Who do I resemble? I’ve seen pictures. I could be her twin, but for my eyes am I right Mrs. Lowe?”

 

The lights from the cupola were swirling around me. Once more I heard the wind chimes, tinkling, tinkling. How could that be? I recalled a time when Papa had yelled at Vera and Arden telling them that he knew what went on “before”. Could that have been it??

 

I pressed my hands to my forehead. It was so much to take in. Vera and Arden had a daughter. I looked over at her watching me, assessing me. She leaned forward and as though to take my hand and Ashley Mills drew back. “Forgive me. I know how this must be for you especially after Arden’s loss. You see he went a few years after you two married to find me. I think he had intentions of bringing me here to Whitefern but with the legal complications of closed adoption, he could not. But I remember him talking with my parents. Oh, how angry they were! He demanded to see me! I was about twelve then and very needing. My mother and father are rich you see. Daddy was always busy with his tennis and his affairs and my mother left my care to her maids and the nannies I used to have.”

 

I let Ashley continue on. Her story was that of a poor little rich girl who had lots of friends, money to buy whatever her heart desired but the one thing she could never get was her parents love. In a way I was touched for it was so like Vera’s—always wanting my father’s love and sometimes her mother’s.

“My father ordered him out.” Ashley continued. “But I came down the stairs screaming at them. They never really wanted me! I let it all out. They just needed an heir for their fortune, and to look like normal rich parents should look. Actually I think my adopted grandmother had most to do with it, for if left alone they would have become—well they did become two very self centered people. I demanded that they let me know Arden. I fought and cried and threatened to run out of the house and downtown to expose them. Shocked and stunned they had no choice but to. That was the first time I ever had my father all to myself.” She clasped her hands together and smiled at the fond memory.

 

“And after that I refused to let my mother or father chase Arden away. I was respectful of them and did what they wanted—any kind of ballet recital as my mother had been a former ballerina until she fell and cracker her ankle, it was expected for me to take her place—as long as I could see my birth father. I was terribly excited to learn about him and my mother whom I wished to meet as well.” Ashley raised her cup of tea and took another sip. “It was the third visit I learned what happened to Vera Whitefern. It made me very sad and from how Daddy talked about her early life she had nothing. I like to think if she’d been allowed to keep me I would have been enough love for her to become differently.”

 

I didn’t notice the snort that came out of me like that. Vera had died as she had lived—jealousy containing ever part of her soul. I don’t think her keeping a child would have made a difference. It would have just been more work for Aunt Ellsbeth and me to do as we always waited hand and foot on my half sister and cousin. Ashley seemed to study me again and sighed. “I know there was animosity between you two of what she did, plotting your rape and I am so sorry for that. A child should never have to live with something like that. I want you to know I am different. I am not my mother. I like to think I am more like my paternal grandmother, Billie Lowe.”

 

At the mention of Billie I sniffled. Oh Billie, who tried to be a mother to me when I was so needing of one. She’d done what she could and even loved my father. Vera’s jealousy had ended her life as well. “I don’t know what you want from me, Ashley.”

 

Something came to darken her amber eyes. “Please call me Lucky. Tomorrow I plan to go and have my name changed to Lucietta Lana Lowe. It’s what my father wanted as he often stated, saying he was sure my mother would have had a change of heart if she’d kept me.” She looked firm in this.

 

“Ash—Lucky.” I corrected. “Still what does this do with me, with Sylvia and my daughter?” I asked.

 

“Daddy’s will is being read soon is it not? He left me something as well. It’s in my right to claim it.” She glanced over at Sylvia with some indifference. I wondered if she knew Arden had fathered a child with her and she had a half sister.   


“Yes. In a week.” It had not been an important matter to me as I was set for life with what Papa had left me. And Sylvia was a very wealthy young woman in her own right as well. I figured Arden would leave most of his earnings to Adele.

 

“It may seem as if I am just interested in what Daddy left me.” Lucky continued. “But that’s not the case. I came because I do have family here. I have you, my cousin Sylvia and Adele don’t I?”

 

I could hear Papa’s ghostly whisper, warning me. He was telling me to be careful. _Beware of Vera_ Papa’s ghost was saying. I swallowed another sip of hot jasmine tea. “Yes...” I could also feel Arden’s ghost, prodding me. Pleading for me to welcome his daughter. _We always wanted a family of our own, Audrina. And she’s your sister’s daughter…._

 

The same words he once said to me about Adele. I glanced upwards. “Welcome home, Lucky. Would you care to stay the night? No need for a hotel when you’re with family.”

 

She beamed. “I would love to. Just let me go fetch my bags.”

 

So why did the sun glint the way it did through the kitchen’s stained glass windows, throwing it’s dizzying colored lights on me? Was it Papa warning me? Momma even? Or Aunt Ellsbeth?

 

_Step on red, soon be dead…._

 

But I was not a child anymore. And Arden would want me to do this. For Whitefern, for the Lowe’s. After all if you didn’t have family who would be there for you when you needed them?

 

Or so I would convince myself.

 


End file.
